I would be grateful for any comments, is this shot sharp? It looks OK to me and I have taken it with 100-400L IS with Servo AF selected and ona tripod. IS was switched on. I don't know if it a case of post processing, or using IS or movement of the subject or indeed if there is an issue of ver sharpness or focussing. It may be the lens needs recalibrating. I have not changed my technique so I am curious to get feedback.
Canon 20D Canon 100-400L IS @ 310mm
ISO 400 + 0.33
1/250 sec @ f5.6 maybe herein lies the issue?? .....faster shuuter speed required??
The composition is ok. Judging from the angle of the head ( it is canted slightly back) and that you used f 5.6, I would say that the issue is more DOF than sutter speed, although a faster shutter wouldn't hurt. I might also ask where you had the focus reticle. I looks like it might have been centred on the breast area, as this seems to be sharper. Generally, the over-all image appears soft focus; in which case any sharpening is of little value. IMHO, I think a narrower DOF is in order. ;-)
Hi Jon. To my eye motion blur seems to be the issue here. Attention to camera technique and a higher shutter speed is the solution I suspect. Using Smart Sharpen to correct motion blur with an angle of 0 degrees significantly sharpens the image while 90 degrees has no effect so I think horizontal camera movement was the culprit. Plane of focus and DOF seem OK. Compositionally, I think a little more room on the left and a little less on the right while retaining space for the bird to "look into" would be good. Very cool perch for this species.
To my eye there are a number of problems here. If the bird is sitting still, 1/250 can be enough shutter speed, but I usually like more. There appears to be some motion blur of the head. There also seems to be a technique issue, because nothing in the image looks tac-sharp to me. The 100-400 isn't known for its sharpness at f/5.6; it does much better stopped down to f/8 or so. Post-processing could be an issue here, but I'm not sure if this was shot RAW or JPEG, nor did you say what kind of post-processing you did on the image. I'd be interested in a little more detail about the photo.
I would say that shutter speed is the issue here, althought the head might have not been in focus as it looks like the bird move it a bit to the back, the probelm here is for sure (to me) shutter speed, we don;t always realize how fast a little head movement can be.
The biggest problem is with the bird's posture. With the head pulled back so much the unsharpness is much more a d-o-f issue than a head movement problem. The breast on the ORIG post looks sharp enough and Tony's repost (thank you sir) looks a bit oversharpened to me. The fact remains, however, that the post with the head pulled back is quite awkward... I do like the basic COMP.
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